Incidence of Listeria monocytogenes on pre-scald and post-chill chicken

Listeria monocytogenes is a human pathogen that can cause serious foodborne disease. For this reason this pathogen is of great interest to all food ma nufacturing companies. Recent outbreaks of listeriosis in which poultry pro ducts were implicated have focused the attention of the poultry industry on L. monocytogenes. Historically, this pathogen has been isolated fr om poul try processing plants, especially during the latter stages of processing (p ost evisceration), This study was designed to survey several plants and det ermine the incidence of L. monocytogenes on poultry carcasses. Three commer cial chicken processing plants were examined for the presence of L. monocyt ogenes on carcasses from early (pre-scald) and late (post-chill) in the pro cess. Overall, the percentage of positive post-chill samples was lower than that previously reported in earlier studies. Carcasses from two plants mai ntained a low incidence at both sample sites. Carcasses from the third plan t accumulated a significant increase in L. monocytogenes from pre-scald to post-chill. This third plant later replaced the evisceration equipment. A s econd evaluation, one month after placement of the equipment, revealed much lower incidence on processed carcasses.